From NEHJ: 'Coach' Espo elevates Huskies

Every team has its inside jokes
and player nicknames. Around the Northeastern women’s hockey
team this season, the nickname for fifth-year senior Brittany
Esposito is quite fitting.

“There have been a lot of
jokes this season calling me, ‘Coach Esposito,’ ”
said the Edmonton, Alberta, native. “I just like being able
to impart my knowledge on others.”

Sharing her love and passion for
the game of hockey is what the forward has become known for during
her Huskies career. It is not necessarily the 37 goals and 55
assists that have made her an integral part of the Northeastern
squad, which was 11-12-2 (7-6-2 in Hockey East) in late
January.

“She is a real student of
the game,” said Northeastern head coach Dave Flint
(Merrimack, N.H.), who counts Esposito as one of his first recruits
after taking over the program in 2008. “She’s probably
our most skilled player, and she really studies the
game.”

Esposito’s love for hockey
became apparent to Flint when she suffered an ACL injury during her
sophomore year that required surgery. The injury limited her to
just 13 games at the start of the 2010-11 season. During that
redshirt year, she did not let herself become disengaged from her
team or the game.

“When she was hurt, she
was always in the stands taking notes and then coming down to the
locker room in-between periods,” recalled Flint. “The
other players took note of that, and that’s a big part of why
they elected her a captain this season.”

The injury reoccured last
season, and she played through it as much as possible. She
eventually had another surgery this offseason, bringing her career
total to three ACL surgeries. She missed just over a month at the
beginning of this season due to the recovery.

The assistant captain is humble
when asked about her staying involved with the team when she has
been injured.

“It’s important in
so many ways,” said Esposito. “I wanted to be able to
help my coaches. I wanted to be able to tell my teammates the
little things they were doing right, and to help them out. It is
always nice to hear if you’re doing something right. And I
tried to apply those things to my own game when I came
back.”

Though observing helped her feel
a part of the team, the times she has been off the ice have not
been easy. “There have been some tough moments, for
sure,” said Esposito. “When I wasn’t able to play
in the beginning of this year, it was frustrating.”

Being so far away from home,
those difficult times had to be dealt with without her family
nearby, but Esposito’s teammates have stepped into that role.
“When my family has been far away, my teammates have been
able to step in, and they’ve been there for me,” she
said.

When she has been healthy,
Esposito has served as a mentor for teammates struggling with their
own injuries. This year, that advice has been used often.

“This year, we have had a
lot of injuries, and she has had her own significant injuries, and
she can help the others with being off the ice and coming
back,” said Flint.

Esposito also is insistent on
keeping those who are off the ice involved in everyday team
activities, making sure that when they do come back, they do not
feel like they have missed out on important team bonding.

“You try to put yourself
in their shoes,” said Esposito. “It’s hard to not
be able to practice, or be in the locker room. You don’t get
to be in on some of the jokes that develop. We’ve have been
collectively trying to keep including them in things, because they
are still a part of this team. They will come back and we want them
to be a part of this team.”

She also seeks chances to work
with Northeastern’s newest players and help them make the
transition to college hockey. “I like being able to use my
experiences to help other players,” said Esposito.
“Right now I’m playing (on the same line) with Haley
Scamurra, and I like being able to tell her the little things about
playing college hockey.”

One of the qualities Esposito
tries to impart on new teammates about college hockey is the
importance of team and relishing the time you get to spend with
each other. She also recognizes that that is something she might
not get to experience again when she graduates in May.

“There is a girl who took
a few years off from hockey who now comes back and skates with us
sometimes” said Esposito. “She always tells us,
‘You never really get this type of environment and team
aspect ever again.’ That’s one of the things that gets
me upset, that I won’t have a team or these friends
around.”

To Esposito, team is something
she will do anything for, and as shown during her injuries,
teammates are those who will stick with you no matter what.
“Even though you might get in a fight with them one day, you
can go to them about anything the next day.”

It is team spirit that gets
Esposito and her fellow Huskies up for playing in both the Beanpot
and Hockey East tournaments. As they prepare to try for a
three-peat in this month’s Women’s Beanpot, Esposito
believes her team’s roller coaster early season is less than
indicative of what they can do on those first two Tuesdays in
February.

“It’s literally
anyone’s tournament,” said Esposito. “You just
have to win two games and you’ve won the tournament. Whenever
you are in a tournament, you feel like you are especially playing
for each other. You know that that extra little bit you give could
win it. You know that every little thing you do could be all that
you need to win.”

While going up against three
nationally ranked squads in Harvard, Boston College and Boston
University could be daunting, Flint agrees that Esposito and her
teammates have a knack for showing up in those special games.

“They all understand the
significance. This year it is going to be difficult, but last year
everyone counted us out and we were able to win,” said Flint.
“I tell them that anything can happen.”

Esposito would love to add
another Beanpot title to her accomplishments, but who knows —
she might have other chances to earn one as a coach.

“I’ve always
considered coaching hockey,” admitted the history major and
criminal justice minor. “I’ve also considered going to
law school, so I’ll probably end up doing one of those
things.”

Those around her feel that
coaching could very well be where Esposito ends up, which is
fitting given what she wants her legacy as a Northeastern hockey
player to be.

“I hope that people know me as a player who wants to learn
everything about the game that I can.”